Tuesday, September 17, 2013

I can't believe that in just over a week my bike will be starting it's journey to Hawaii.

I will be racing on my 2013 Ceepo Katana. As I posted previously, I choose this bike as it is a prefect combination of a modern aero bike that is still practical to work on and travel with. The Katana has been solid as a rock all season and the more I ride it the more I like it.

Today was a cold and rainy fall day so I took the opportunity to ride inside and then get the Katana all dressed up for Kona. Here are a few highlights of the setup.

This time around I am racing on a 404/808 firecrest combo with GP4000s tires, latex tubes, and some Stan's sealant. Sure the sealant wouldn't have help with the tire slash I got in Kona 2010, but it did save me at Ironman Arizona last year when I found 2 thorns in my tube after the race.

Just in case I have another tire mishap, I was able to get just about everything I need under/behind the saddle. I was a long time fan of zip ties to hold bottle cages but I decided to use the X-lab products this year as it allowed me to also attach two CO2s, a tire lever, and inflator in between the cage and saddle. Under the saddle I was able to fit a spare tube and valve extender. The X-Lab gorilla cage is awesome for behind the saddle as I have yet to launch a bottle.

Up front, I also used to always rely on zip ties but this year used a simple mount that attaches to the compression plug in the fork. This allowed me to easily zip time my salt stick right to the cage and keeps it out of the wind. I actually prefer to have the cage facing the rear but I found that I ejected bottles with it that way. Once i turned it forward again, the bottle has always stayed in.

I think the bike looks great from the front. Sure it isn't as narrow as some of the latest super bikes but the Katana is super easy to work, takes any stem on and still quite aero with all the cables nicely tucked away. The Tri-Rig Omega front brake also works awesome and is aero. I always switched to the Bontrager aero brake levers with the built in adjusters as it makes switching wheels much easier.

Once again I will be using TriBike Transport so that I don't have to deal with the packing, and shipping or traveling with a bike headaches. The best part is after the race I can roll the bike right down the street to TBT and start vacation!